Welcome to New York
by ImpossiblyIzzy
Summary: 'I'm Jake. I'm majoring in criminology.' 'Criminology.' Terry nodded thoughtfully. 'How come' 'Because… I love Die Hard' It's a college AU! Filled with drama, bisexuality, parties, relationships, and general B99 hijinks.
1. Pilot

'Jake!'

Jake looked up to see Gina waving at him from across the dining hall, and shot her a relieved grin as he carried his tray over to where she was sitting.

'Thank god,' she said, putting her phone down on the table. 'The only company I've had since I got here is my roommate and she is a _nightmare_.'

'Mine isn't moving in until today,' said Jake, 'but he already added me on Facebook, Instagram, _and_ Snapchat, and sent me fourteen pictures of his dog.'

'Sounds like a loser,' said Gina. 'Looks like we're gonna be stuck with each other until I find someone decent around here.'

Jake laughed; there was something comforting about Gina's familiar irritability amid the chaos and general new-ness of the first day of college. His mum had dropped him off yesterday and he had spent the evening decorating the breeze-block wall on his dorm room with posters and meeting some other people from his corridor. They had all been fine – Jake considered himself to be pretty good with new people – but he hadn't really clicked with anyone yet. Jake had been looking forward to college for months but, now that he was here, he was finding it to be more nerve-wracking and overwhelming than he had expected.

But here was Gina, with her disparaging comments and her auburn hair and her sweater with a wolf on it. He had known her since he could remember, although they hadn't seen each other as much as he would have liked over the past few years.

'There's Rosa as well.' He said.

'Who's Rosa?' Gina was looking at her phone again, eating salad with the other hand. Jake didn't know why anyone would voluntarily eat salad; he was currently delighted by the fact that he could eat nothing but french fries without his mom there to reprimand him.

'I went to high school with her.' He reminded Gina.

'Hi, is this seat free?'

Jake looked up to see a tall black guy with ludicrously well-defined muscles standing beside their table.

'For those biceps?' said Gina. 'Absolutely.'

He took the seat beside Gina, and Jake forced himself not to stare at the guy's arms. Or his pecs.

'I'm Terry,' the guy said, before setting to work on his gigantic plateful of food.

'I am… delighted to meet you,' Gina directed the comment to Terry's muscles.

Terry gave her a questioning look.

'She's also Gina,' Jake supplied. 'And I'm Jake. I'm majoring in criminology.'

'Criminology.' Terry nodded thoughtfully. 'How come?'

'Because… I love _Die Hard?'_ Saying it out loud, Jake realised that he should have come up with a more impressive reason – people at college were bound to ask him.

'Okay!' said Terry with what seemed like a forced smile. 'I'm majoring in animation. Terry _loves_ animation.'

'Cool,' said Jake. 'So you're gonna, like, make Pixar movies?'

'Something like that, yeah.' Said Terry.

'Cool!' said Jake again.

'What about you?' Terry said to Gina.

'Huh? Oh – psychology.' She said.

They chatted their way through lunch as Jake ate his plateful of just french fries, which turned out not to be as exciting as he had thought. He was going to have to branch out if he was going to make it through four years of college – maybe branch out into pizza. Plus pizza had tomato sauce, which was a vegetable, so his mom could suck it! (Jake mentally apologised for mentally telling his mom to suck it)

It turned out that Terry was a sophomore, and lived in a house off-campus. Within minutes of learning this, Gina had talked him into hosting a party there. After they had eaten, Terry showed Jake and Gina around campus for a while, until Jake got a series of excited texts from his roommate who had apparently arrived.

'I'm gonna go meet this guy,' he said, 'but I'll see you guys later.'

He walked back to his dorm, where he got slightly lost and ended up in the wrong corridor before retracing his steps and eventually finding his room.

'Hello!' Jake's roommate dropped an armful of blankets and stumbled on a cardboard box in his eagerness to cross the room. 'I'm Charles! Nice to meet you!'

'Hey!' said Jake.

Charles was a head shorter than Jake, dressed in a brown sweater and pants in an only-slightly-different shade of brown, and he was giving Jake a delighted grin.

'I'm so excited to finally meet you,' said Charles. 'I bet we're gonna be best buds – maybe we can braid each other's hair and talk about the boys we like!'

'Okay?' said Jake, slightly bemused.

'Or, you know, whatever,' said Charles.

Jake's phone vibrated – he had a message from Rosa.

 **Rosa:** Going to a bar later where no one gets carded wanna come?

'Hey,' said Jake, 'do you want to come to a bar with me and some of my friends tonight?'

'Sounds brilliant!' Charles beamed.

.x.

Jake could see the irony of going out underage drinking on his first weekend of studying criminology, but he figured it couldn't hurt. When he and Charles arrived at the bar they met up with Gina, who had changed out of her wolf sweater into a bomber jacket which also had a wolf on – embroidered on the back.

'This is my night look,' she explained.

The bar – 'Shaw's', according to the neon sign outside - was just starting to get busy, a mix of students and adults filling tables and barstools. Bare lightbulbs hung from the ceiling, casting a warm glow across the room. Gina went up to the bar and ordered a cocktail like she'd done it a hundred times, and Jake bought himself a beer, trying not to look nervous.

'Hey.'

Jake turned around to see Rosa, dressed in her usual all-black outfit, with a cute Latina girl that Jake didn't know.

'Hey Rosa!' he said. He held out his arms in case she wanted to hug him; she didn't.

'This is Amy,' she said, tipping her head to the girl beside her. 'She's my roommate.'

'Hi,' said Amy, holding out her hand. Jake shook it. 'Amy Santiago.'

'Noice,' said Jake, and then he realised that he should introduce himself too, so he added, 'Jake Peralta.'

* * *

So I had this idea last week and then I couldn't get it out of my head. And then I wrote five thousand words in four days, and decided to share it with the internet XD I'm not used to uploading things that aren't finished, but at the moment I am brimming with motivation for this story. Hope you liked this and will stick around for more!  
Izzy


	2. Three Drink Amy

'Do I look okay?' Amy smoothed down her skirt and grimaced at her reflection in the mirror.

Amy definitely wasn't dressed appropriately for a bar. She was wearing a navy dress with a white collar – they were going to realise that she wasn't twenty-one. She probably looked about eleven.

'You look fine.' Rosa wasn't even looking at her. She was sitting on her desk, lacing up her combat boots. _That_ was what people wore to bars: black skinny jeans and leather jackets and dark lipstick.

'I don't know.' Amy toyed with the idea of taking her hair out of its ponytail but decided against it.

'Come on, let's go.' Rosa jumped down from where she was sitting and opened the door. Still unhappy with her choice of outfit, Amy grabbed her purse and followed her – she certainly didn't want Rosa to leave without her.

Rosa didn't say anything as they walked to the bar. Amy didn't mind, she was busy looking around, trying to take everything in. Her neck hurt from tipping her head back to look up at tall buildings. She had never been to New York before except for her college interview, and she couldn't wait to explore, to see the sights. She wondered if Rosa would want to do touristy things together – probably not.

When they got to the bar, Amy couldn't stop looking around for anyone who might clock her for a minor and throw her out. She definitely should have worn something different. She smoothed her skirt again as she followed Rosa to a group of people beside the bar.

Rosa was talking to a guy in a leather jacket – why did everyone around here have leather jackets?

'This is Amy,' said Rosa, 'She's my roommate.'

'Hi,' said Amy. She held her hand out to the guy, and he shook it. 'Amy Santiago.'

'Noice,' he said, grinning. His mouth was enormous. 'Jake Peralta.'

'Are you a freshman too?' said Amy.

'Yep,' he said. 'Oh, this is Charles – my roommate – and this is Gina.'

'Hi,' said Amy again.

Rosa turned around and shoved what looked like a glass of coke into Amy's hand. 'Got you a drink.'

'Thanks,' said Amy, relieved to have something to do with her hands. She took a sip; it tasted like permanent marker. She tried not to make a face.

Gina found a table for all of them, and soon she and Rosa were talking about something, and Charles was leaning across the table on his elbows and gazing at Rosa like a love-struck puppy. Amy sipped her drink. Her head was starting to feel weird.

'Hey,' said Jake. 'Bet you can't beat me at darts.' He was standing over her, leaning on the table with one hand and giving her a sly grin.

'Oh, _do_ you?' Amy shot back, getting to her feet.

As it turned out, she could. In fact, she _owned_ him at darts. And somehow she had finished her drink, and Jake was buying her another one, and she was challenging him to a game of table tennis, and she had no idea who was winning but they _had_ managed to keep up a rally of thirty-four, which she thought was pretty impressive.

And then Jake challenged her to a made-up game which involved throwing ping-pong balls at the darts board, and she was convinced she could beat him at that too, until they both got told off by a grumpy middle-aged bar patron.

Jake took his jacket off; underneath he was wearing a t-shirt that said "Fitness? More like fitness whole pizza in my mouth".

'I LOVE your shirt!' said Amy, because for some reason it seemed like the funniest thing she'd ever seen.

'Thanks!' said Jake. 'Hey, wanna see if I can beat you at pool?'

'I don't know how to play pool,' Amy admitted.

'Me neither!' Jake looked delighted.

They tried to figure it out for a while, before eventually giving up in favour of trying to throw the balls into the pockets from the other end of the table. And then Amy was buying each of them another drink, and then she had the excellent idea to challenge her new friend to a dance battle. By this point her head was spinning. She'd never got properly drunk before, and the world seemed to tilt around her every time she moved, but nevertheless this seemed like the perfect time for a dance-off.

So they danced. They swayed and they bobbed and they spun around, and Amy did the macarena dance to a song that definitely wasn't the macarena, and Jake did the robot, and Amy tried too moonwalk and stumbled into a table, which was just about the funniest thing that had ever happened. Jake made a dance move out of finger guns, and did something fancy with his feet, and Amy tried to copy it and nearly fell over again.

And then Jake took her hand and spun her around, and his hand was so big and warm around hers. She leant against him as she laughed, she could feel his heavy breathing under his slightly-damp t-shirt.

'Amy.' And now Rosa was there – where did Rosa come from?

'Hey Rosa,' Amy giggled. She stepped away from Jake, leaning a steadying hand on the wall.

'Drink this, you lightweight.' Rosa pressed a glass into Amy's hand.

'Oh? What's this?'

'It's water, dummy.' Said Rosa. 'Drink it, we're leaving soon.'

Leaving? But Amy and Jake still had so much dancing to do – she wanted to hold his hands more. 'Why?'

'Bar's closing.'

'Aww, Rosa!' Amy didn't want to leave.

'Come on – drink that. Get your purse.'

Rosa was gone again. Amy drank the water – she hadn't realised how thirsty she was.

'We're not done with this dance battle, Peralta,' she said.

'Absolutely not,' he said. 'I am gonna own your _butt_ at this dance battle. Wait, not in a weird way. I respect women!'

Amy laughed at him, and then she made her way back over to their table and found her purse. God, she was woozy. She let Rosa lead her out of the bar and back to their dorm room, and then she stumbled around their room getting ready for bed, too spacey and cheerful to feel self-conscious in front of her roommate.

Her phone was lighting up with notifications.

 **Facebook** : Jake Peralta has sent you a friend request

 **Instagram** : jake_with_a_vengeance has requested to follow you

 **Snapchat** : jake_with_a_vengeance has added you as a friend

Amy fell asleep smiling.

* * *

What a bunch of nerds XD  
Thanks so much to everyone who has read this and left kudos - hope you liked this chapter!  
Izzy


	3. First Day of College

The first thing Gina did when she woke up was text Rosa.

 **Gina:** Last night was lit, we should do that again

While she waited for a reply, Gina looked people up on Facebook. Amy was a massive nerd – no surprises there. Charles had a dog in his profile picture and some kind of pasta as his header. Rosa's page had strict privacy settings on it, and Gina _definitely_ wasn't going to send her a friend request like some kind of clingy bitch.

She texted Jake instead.

 **Gina:** Why did you never tell me you had cool friends at high school?

While Jake and Amy had been drunkenly indulging in their truly godawful dancing the night before, Gina had been with Rosa. (And Charles, but they'd both been trying to ignore him.) Rosa wasn't interested in the normal freshman small talk of where-are-you-from-and-what's-your-major, which was delightfully refreshing.

'My dream career is professional dancer,' Gina remembered saying, 'but only if I can be queen of the universe in my spare time.'

Usually people laughed when Gina said things like that, but Rosa said, 'Tight.'

Later, Rosa said, 'I like your jacket.'

And Gina said, 'Wolves are my spirit animal.'

And Rosa said, 'Why?'

And Gina said, 'Because they're sensuous animals and they're in tune with the energy of the moon.'

And Rosa nodded and bought them both another drink. She liked to talk about Gina, which was perfect, because Gina liked to talk about herself.

When her phone buzzed, she thought it would be Jake.

 **Rosa:** Yes

 **Rosa:** But without Charles

Gina laughed to herself, remembering Charles' besotted gazing at Rosa the night before. He had been tripping over himself trying to buy her drinks, oblivious to Rosa's complete disinterest.

She texted Rosa back with a thumbs-up emoji, and then dragged herself out of bed; she had her first ever college class at eleven. Her roommate was still asleep, thank god, everything but her blonde hair hidden under a blanket.

Gina got dressed and went down to the dining hall, hoping she might see Terry again. She didn't really expect to though – he lived off-campus and had no real reason to come for breakfast. The only familiar face she saw was Jake's.

'Hey,' he said, as she took the seat opposite him. He looked like he'd fallen out of bed and into his rumpled plaid shirt; he yawned into his coffee. 'I just saw your text.'

'Finally.' Gina rolled her eyes.

'So you like Rosa?' Jake raised an eyebrow at her.

Gina stirred her oatmeal. 'She's the only person I've met so far who's actually on my level.'

'Sure,' he smirked. Gina ignored him.

'Jake! Gina!' Charles plonked himself down in the seat beside Jake. 'There you are!' Gina was relieved – Charles might be short, creepy, and dressed head-to-toe in beige, but at least he could distract Jake.

'What are you _eating_ , man?' Jake made a face at Charles' plate.

'Turkey bacon with jam, you should try it!' said Charles. 'It's like bacon and syrup taken to the next level.'

Gina took out her phone.

 **Gina:** Also no drunk Amy and Jake to babysit

 **Rosa:** Sounds good

She tried to hide her smile, eating her oatmeal instead. When we heard a phone buzz, she grabbed hers, but it turned out to be Jake's.

'Is that Amy?' Charles tried to see the screen. 'You two were so cute together!'

 **Rosa:** Tonight?

Gina sent back three thumbs-up emojis in a row. Maybe she was willing to look like a _bit_ of a desperate bitch.

Jake's first class – maths – made his brain hurt. Or maybe that was all the caffeine he'd had.

After Amy and Rosa had left the bar last night, Jake had been treated to Charles rambling about Rosa on the way back to their dorm room, and for another hour once they got there.

'I really think we have something!' Charles kept saying.

It was strange, trying to fall asleep with Charles snoring on the other side of the room. It was like the sleepovers he used to have when he was a kid, except that this was for an entire _year_.

Jake didn't know what time he had fallen asleep, but he had woken up exhausted and slightly hungover, and drank at least three cups of coffee, maybe four. Somehow, he felt extremely tired and extremely energetic at the same time.

He got to his second class - some history thing that he'd only taken to get his required credits - and was waiting outside the lecture theatre when he saw a familiar set of biceps approaching him.

'Hey, Terry!'

'Jake! How's it going?'

'I've already had my first hangover _and_ my first caffeine headache of college!' said Jake, proudly.

'Congratulations?' Terry looked dubious.

'Are you in this class too?' said Jake.

'Yeah, Terry needs history credits.'

And then someone said, 'Hey, Peralta.'

He looked around – it was Amy, wearing a skirt and a sweater and a backpack. She looked like she belonged on the front of the college brochure.

'Hey!' He said, 'Santiago – back to finish our dance battle?''

Jake introduced Amy and Terry to each other. They filed into the lecture theatre, Terry struck up a conversation with some other kids, and Amy turned to Jake and said, 'I'm sorry about last night – I'm such a lightweight. I don't normally drink.'

Jake laughed. 'It's fine – it was good. I particularly enjoyed your flossing.'

'Oh god.' Amy pretended to cover her face, laughing.

They took seats next to each other, and Amy pulled a binder out of her backpack. 'I love new stationery.' She remarked, running a hand over it. Jake pulled out his notebook – it was already battered, and his orange soda had leaked on it.

' _That's_ your notebook?' said Amy with disdain. 'And do you chew _all_ your possessions, or just your pens?'

Jake put the end of his pen in his mouth and sucked it, waggling his eyebrows at her. He started sliding it in and out of his mouth in a way that he hoped was weird and sexual, as opposed to just weird.

'Ugh,' she rolled her eyes; it was adorable. 'I would have gone easier on you last night if I'd known you were only fourteen.'

Jake pointed at her. 'That's rude. I'll have you know I am _extremely_ mature.'

'Oh yeah?'

'Uh-huh.' Jake wasn't really sure where he was going with this. 'I've done loads of grown-up things, like working at a diner. And doing sex with women!'

'Doing sex with women?' Amy raised her eyebrows sardonically. 'Wow, now I'm impressed.'

'Yep. Adult, female women.' Jake didn't know what he was saying anymore, but Amy was still laughing at him so clearly he was doing something right.

And then the professor arrived, and Amy took attentive notes while Jake doodled a picture of a helicopter, and then added a sea monster eating it. It was a shitty drawing, but it seemed like a better use of his time than trying to write down what the professor was saying.

And Amy told him that taking notes was important, and Jake teased her, and she smiled when she thought he wasn't looking.

After class, Terry accompanied Jake and Amy to the dining hall, where they ran into Gina and Charles. And even though Jake had only known most of them for a single day, it felt like it had been much longer. They just clicked together: Amy and Jake made fun of each other, and Charles sucked up to everyone, and Gina rolled her eyes at them, and Terry was slightly bemused by them all.

Jake wished that he could stay at this table all day, but eventually everyone had a class to go to. But Terry invited everyone around to his apartment to play some kind of video game, so they would be seeing each other again before long.

'Maybe Amy will bring Rosa,' Jake said, as he and Charles walked to class together.

'Yes! You could be my wingman!' said Charles.

'Sure,' said Jake. But he was just thinking about seeing Amy again.

* * *

Thank you to the anon who pointed out the broken formatting on these chapters XD Also I've been neglecting to post here as AO3 is the main website I use, but I'll try to remember to update on here as well. There are a lot fewer people reading fic on here, but I'll keep posting for those of you who do.

Izzy


	4. Art History

Amy's last class of the day was art history – finally the class she'd been waiting for. She had been looking forward to all of them, of course, but she had been most excited about her major.

She arrived fifteen minutes early and got a seat near the front of the room. She laid out her binder, paper, and a pen, and distracted herself for a while by looking at Instagram. A guy sild into the seat next to her.

'Hi,' he said, 'this seat isn't taken, is it?'

Amy put down her phone. 'Nope.'

He smiled warmly. 'Good.'

'I'm Amy Santiago,' she said. She would have shaken his hand, if they hadn't been sitting next to each other.

'Teddy Wells,' he said, 'Nice to meet you.'

'Are you majoring in art history too?'

'I am,' he said, 'I'm especially interested in abstract expressionism.'

They chatted for a bit about art history; Teddy seemed like he knew a lot about it, and it was exciting to be talking to someone who liked the same subject as her. Their conversation was a little stilted, but when the class ended and Teddy said, 'See you next time,', Amy was glad she would have someone to sit with.

Afterwards, Amy ate in the dining hall, keeping a book open with the rim of her plate. After dinner, she went up to her dorm room and wondered what she should wear to Terry's. Would Jake think it was weird if she changed? Would Jake notice what she was wearing either way? Did she want him to?

Rosa showed up with a bottle of whisky. Amy wondered if she had a fake ID, but she didn't ask. She was a bit scared of Rosa.

'I need the room tonight,' said Rosa.

'That's fine,' Amy pulled out her hairband and started brushing her hair, wondering if she should leave it loose. 'I'm going out anyway. But in the future maybe we should have some kind of system for what we do if someone wants to room to themselves? Ooh – I could draw up a rota!'

'Whatever,' said Rosa. Amy decided to stick with the same outfit, but to leave her hair untied. She put on some lip-gloss.

Did she like Jake? Or was she just excited to have made a friend at college so quickly?

She certainly had fun with him. She liked teasing him, making fun of each other, and she liked that he was as competitive as she was. She liked how he was better than her at dancing, and worse than her at darts.

But was she into him? He had curly hair and he was just the right amount taller than her, and he had the biggest, goofiest, smile she'd ever seen. Hmm. Results inconclusive.

Amy got the subway to Terry's apartment by herself, looking up the route on google maps. She knocked on the door, her chest tight with a mix of nerves and excitement. There were noises behind the door, scuffling of footsteps, and then it swung open and Jake beamed at her.

'Hi Amy!' Charles popped up behind Jake's shoulder.

'Hi, guys.' She was glad she hadn't changed – neither of the guys had.

'Santiago,' said Jake, 'looking forward to losing at some more games?'

'Uh, I seem to remember beating you yesterday.' Amy shut the door behind her, and followed Jake and Charles into the combined living room/kitchen. Terry was sitting on the arm of an old and battered couch, talking to a guy with an afro.

'Hey, Amy!' said Terry when he saw her. 'Guys, this is Raymond – my roommate.'

'Hello.' Raymond didn't look particularly impressed by his roommate's new friends.

Amy held out her hand to him. 'Hi – Amy Santiago. I'm an art history major.'

Raymond shook her hand; his grip was firm. 'I too study art history.'

'Really?' said Amy.

'Yes. I am a PHD student.'

Amy couldn't believe her luck – a postgrad student of her subject who just happened to live with one of her new friends? Maybe they could talk, maybe he could be some kind of mentor for her. Amy loved the idea of having a mentor.

'Well,' said Raymond, 'nice to meet you.'

He nodded at her, and left the room.

'Why do you introduce yourself to everyone like that?' said Jake.

'It's polite,' said Amy.

Jake was laughing at her. 'I've never met someone my age who shakes hands with everyone.'

Amy refused to back down. 'I took a hand-shake seminar last year,' she said.

'You're making that up.'

'I am not!' she said. 'I got an A-plus.'

They played a game that Terry had, which involved using their cell phones to answer questions on the TV screen. And Jake set his screen name to 'bewbs', and Amy rolled her eyes at him, and Jake said 'Jeez, don't be such a prude, Amy!' and she tried not to let herself get distracted by the way his eyes sparkled and his cheeks dimpled when he was teasing her. And of course the two of them got extremely competitive over the games, but Terry had more practise and Charles turned out to be surprisingly good at them.

Eventually, Terry admitted that he needed to study, and Amy, Jake and Charles headed back to the subway station together.

'I wonder if Raymond will mentor me,' Amy said, almost to herself.

'God, you're a nerd,' said Jake.

'Can I just say,' Charles piped up, 'you two would make an adorable couple.'

Jake laughed uncomfortably. Amy got out her phone to figure out which train they needed to get home, but Jake said, 'I've got this – I'm from Brooklyn.'

'I've never been to New York before,' said Amy.

Jake did a fake gasp. 'Someone will have to show you around sometime.'

'I guess someone will,' said Amy.

'Adorable.' Charles said again.


	5. The Paris of People

**Jake:** You coming to Terry's?

 **Gina:** Nope I've got plans

 **Gina** : I'm way too important for your little get-together

Gina smirked to herself as she put down her phone and picked up her hair curlers. Her roommate was out, so Gina had been left in peace to blast Beyonce as she got ready for her evening with Rosa. She applied her lipstick and put on her denim jacket, before giving herself one last once-over in the mirror. Damn, she was looking good.

Rosa lived in a dorm a couple of blocks away, a nicer one than Gina's. Lucky bitch. Rosa opened the door to her, dressed all in black again, her dark curls as wild as her eyes.

'Hey,' she said. Gina looked around the room; it was obvious which side belonged to who. Amy's bed was neatly made, pristine stationery and new textbooks laid out on her desk. Rosa's side had a black and white movie poster and an artsy picture of a motorbike on the wall, and the only thing on her desk was a bottle of whisky.

'Where did you get this?' said Gina.

The corner of Rosa's mouth twitched. 'I have my methods.'

'So,' Gina sat down on Rosa's bed, 'you gonna make me a drink?'

She watched as Rosa produced two glasses and a bottle of coke. (Drinking two nights in a row – she really was experiencing college, wasn't she?) Rosa made even simple actions look both intimidating and graceful – like a wolf. No wonder Gina was so intrigued by her.

Gina thought about Charles' besotted gazing at Rosa last night. The idea that Rosa would ever want to go be with someone like him was laughable - Rosa needed someone on her level, someone deep and challenging.

Rosa handed Gina a glass and sat beside her on the bed, cross-legged. She had a scar cutting across her right eyebrow; it was badass.

'So what are we gonna do?' said Gina.

'We could… watch a movie,' suggested Rosa.

'Interesting.' Gina sipped her drink. 'What kind of movie?'

'I like old movies,' said Rosa. She grabbed her laptop from beside her bed and opened it.

Gina didn't know anything about old movies. 'You choose one,' she said.

'I've been planning to watch this one,' said Rosa.

'Let's watch it then.'

They watched a movie. It was black and white, and everyone had a weird old-fashioned accent, and the soundtrack was lame, but Gina wasn't paying much attention to the movie anyway. She was distracted by Rosa's presence beside her, by her aura, by the warmth she could feel where they were almost touching.

On Rosa's single bed, there wasn't much space for both of them. They leaned against the wall, the laptop on the bed in front of them, Gina's legs to the side, Rosa's folded in front of her. Their shoulders bumped each other. Their thighs almost touched.

 **Jake:** Are you with Rosa?

And then a whole row of winky faces.

Gina turned her phone off.

The alcohol was making her whole body feel warm and electric. And she definitely wasn't paying attention to the movie anymore, she was hyperaware of the space between her and Rosa.

They'd gone a long time without talking. It wasn't something Gina was used to, she liked to talk, liked people the listen to her. Rosa was sipping her drink, watching the movie, and all Gina wanted was for those eyes to be on _her._

Because she wanted everyone's eyes on her. Because she deserved it.

That's what she would have said, if anyone had asked.

After a while, Rosa poured them each another drink. The whisky burned Gina's throat. After a while, she set the glass down on the floor. When the credits rolled, Rosa shifted away from Gina a little and set down her drink. Gina thought she should say something about the movie – she wanted them to talk like they had last night.

'What did you think?' she said.

Rosa didn't answer. Instead, she took Gina's face in her hands and kissed her.

For all of her hard, angular behaviour, Rosa was very soft to the touch. Her lips were gentle, cautious, her hands loose enough that Gina could have pulled away if she had wanted to.

She didn't want to.

She leant into Rosa, kissing her back, letting one of her hands get lost in Rosa's hair. Thank god she hadn't finished her second drink – Gina didn't want her senses dulled, she wanted to feel this kiss with every nerve ending she had. Rosa tasted like alcohol. She pulled Gina closer, one hand migrating to Gina's back. Gina sucked Rosa's bottom lip; Rosa sighed against her mouth.

Eventually, Rosa pulled away.

'Oh dang,' said Gina, 'why didn't you lead with that?'

Rosa reached for her drink. She was smiling, and Gina realised that she'd never seen Rosa smile before. She didn't say anything, just sipped her drink. She had smudges of Gina's lipstick around her mouth.

Gina waited for Rosa to put her drink down, and then leaned in and kissed her again.

As Gina walked home that night, she couldn't stop grinning. She and Rosa had lost track of time. They hadn't done anything besides kiss, and then talk a bit, and then kiss a bit more, but for tonight that had been enough. Gina felt like she must be giving off light.

She fumbled with the key as she tried to open the door to her dorm room. Inside, it was pitch black.

'Shut _up_ ,' groaned her roommate, as Gina fumbled to take her shoes off. Whatever – she was a bitch and she couldn't touch Gina's happiness.

Without turning the light on, Gina chucked her jacket and jeans onto her desk chair and crawled into bed. She squeezed the power button on her phone and waited for it to boot up.

Rosa hadn't texted her, Gina decided not to text her either. Play it cool, Linetti.

She ignored Jake's messages, but scrolled through her other notifications.

 **Facebook:** Charles Boyle has sent you a friend request

Ugh. Fine.

The next day, Gina ate lunch with everyone. Rosa, Jake, Amy, Charles, Terry. They seemed to be becoming something of a group – how had this happened? It had been a long time since Gina had been part of any kind of group with Jake. As Rosa slid into her seat, she caught Gina's eye and smiled with only her eyes and the faintest hint of a twitch of her mouth. Gina looked away and stole one of Jake's fries.

Charles had somehow set things up so that he was sitting next to Rosa; he kept trying to talk to her about the differences between various types of artisanal ham.

'…but the best way to experience them is at a farmers' market,' he was saying, 'or at the ham and pickle festival.'

'There's a _ham and pickle festival_?' said Jake.

'"Ham and Pickle Festival" is the name of my new band,' said Rosa.

'Ooh!' Jake's face lit up. 'We should start a band!'

'You play any instruments?'

'No,' said Jake, 'but I'm an amazing rapper.'

Gina rolled her eyes. So did Rosa.

'I used to play the saxophone,' volunteered Terry.

'I can sing _and_ dance,' said Gina.

'So, I was thinking, would you like to…' Charles tried to get Rosa's attention back onto him.

'Amy, any instruments?' said Rosa, ignoring him.

'Actually, I can play the piano.' Amy said.

'Ugh, nobody wants to listen to a band with a piano in it,' said Gina. 'So far it's all about Terry's sax and my stellar vocals.'

'Do _you_ play anything?' Jake said to Rosa.

'Maybe.' Rosa's face betrayed nothing.

'What is it?' said Amy. 'Guitar? Violin? Ooh, cello?'

'I'm not gonna tell you.' Rosa took a stubborn bite of her sandwich.

'I'm gonna find out eventually,' said Amy.

Charles was still trying to get Rosa's attention, and Gina was watching the whole thing unfold while she ate her salad.

After lunch, everyone headed off to their various classes. Gina had half an hour before her first psych class, but she decided she might as well go over now. Maybe she could meet some more psychology majors before class.

'Hey, Gina!' She looked around to see Charles following her. She sighed.

He caught up with her. 'Hey, can I ask you for some advice?'

Gina kept walking towards the psych building, Charles followed. 'Is it anything to do with freaky food festivals?'

'No, it's about… it's about Rosa.'

Charles looked so much like a pathetic, beige, puppy that Gina took pity on him. 'Okay. Ask away.'

'Do you think I have a chance with her?'

'Honestly?' said Gina. 'No.'

'Oh.' Charles looked wounded. 'Why?'

Because she was a wolf and Charles was a little yappy dog. Because she wore black leather, and he wore brown corduroy. Because she tasted like whisky when she kissed Gina's mouth, and her lips felt like fire when she kissed Gina's neck.

'She's out of your league.'

Gina didn't even know if Rosa liked guys.

'But I should ask her out anyway?'

'That is _so_ not what I said.'

'But it's worth a shot, right?'

'Charles,' she said, 'That is the exact opposite of what I'm saying.'

'Yeah,' he said, almost to himself, 'I think I'm gonna ask her out. Thanks Gina – good talk!'

'You didn't listen to anything I said!' Gina protested. But Charles was already gone.


	6. Fantasy Threesome

Having a roommate was exactly as awesome as Charles had always expected – it was like having an automatic best friend. He and Jake ate breakfast together, they exchanged high-fives when they saw each other between classes, they talked about all kinds of things.

One evening, they watched Jake's favourite movie, Die Hard, together.

'Do you want some snacks?' Charles said, 'I have chips.'

'What _flavour_ are these?' Jake made a face.

'Oxtail soup! They're from Eastern Europe.'

'They taste like balls,' said Jake.

So maybe he didn't share Charles' sophisticated palette – in fact, he mostly seemed to live off pizza and artificially coloured sodas – but he was fun. And he was the coolest person Charles had ever been friends with, possibly the coolest person he'd ever met.

Except Rosa, obviously. _Rosa._ Every time he thought about her, Charles' heart felt like it was trying to dance inside his chest. And he thought about her a lot – about her curly hair, about the way she always wore black jeans and leather jackets, about how she always sat cross-legged or with one of her feet up on something, even at lunch.

'Why don't you just ask her out?' said Jake. He'd just found the sheet of paper that Charles had filled with doodles of the name 'Charles Diaz'.

'I'm going to,' he said, 'I'm just trying to decide where I should take her.'

'What are you thinking?' Jake sat down on his bed.

'Well, I thought I might take her to a concert, she probably likes-'

'You can afford to go to a concert?' Jake said, raising his eyebrows.

'Well, not really,' Charles admitted.

'Why don't you just take her for a drink or something?'

Charles considered it. He had wanted to do something _special_ for Rosa, to show her how much he liked her, how much he was willing to do for her.

'I want to do something… _bigger_ than just a drink,' he said.

'Does a first date need something that big?' said Jake. 'The last time I took a girl on a date, we went to 7-Eleven for slurpees and split the cheque.'

'They have cheques at 7-Eleven?'

'No, but that's not the point,' Jake said, 'the point is, we didn't do anything huge.'

'And how did that relationship turn out?' said Charles.

'Well,' Jake thought about it. 'Not great. She stood me up for our second date because she was hooking up with another guy – but that's not the point either! My point was, Rosa might be put off if you suggest something that big.'

'You might have a point,' Charles conceded. 'Back in high school, girls always said I went too big too soon. My friends called it "going Full Boyle".'

'Exactly!' Jake grinned. 'So try being more chill with Rosa. Ooh, maybe you could take her for a slurpee!'

'I think I'll pass on that one, Jakey.'

But Charles did think about what Jake had said, and decided to try it. Being chill, that is, not 7-Eleven.

He saw Rosa most days at lunch or dinner; their fledgling group of friends ate most meals together in various combinations. But he didn't get a chance to talk to her alone until Saturday, almost a week after he had first met her.

They were at Shaw's bar again, the whole group standing around the pool table and trying to play as teams. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but the rest of his team was berating Charles every time he failed to pot a ball, and Gina was keeping up an overly sarcastic running commentary.

'Will Terence's incredible biceps imbue him with incredible pool skills?' she was saying as Terry took the cue and had his turn. 'Apparently not. Shame on you, Terrence.'

'He's not even on our team!' said Jake.

Charles watched Rosa as she stood on the opposite side of the table taking a swig of her beer. He was going to talk to her, he was going to do it. As Jake took his turn, Rosa went up to the bar for another drink. Charles followed her.

Rosa was leaning against the bar, tapping her debit card against it as she waited for the bartender.

'So,' said Charles, folding his arms and leaning sideways on the bar in an attempt to appear casual. He was pretty sure it didn't look at all casual, and was making him seem even shorten than usual, so he stood up straight. 'Would you like to go for a drink with me?' he blurted. He tried not to let his hope spill out of him and make things messy, but it was probably showing on his face.

Rosa turned to look at him, her face set. 'No.'

Oh. Just like that. _No._ Ouch.

'Sorry.' Charles didn't know why he was apologising – it just seemed like the right thing to do.

'It's fine.' Rosa paused, and then said, 'I'm just not romantically or sexually interested in you.'

'Okay,' said Charles, 'Yes, of course. Obviously.'

God, he was stupid. Of course she wasn't interested in him.

Charles turned and started walking, without a plan for where he was going. He ended up at the door, and decided that he might as well go home. He didn't want to be around the rest of them right now, anyway.

Charles was lying on his bed eating Eastern European potato chips when Jake got back.

'Hey buddy,' said Jake. 'Where did you go?'

'Rosa said no.' Charles sat up and sighed, brushing chip crumbs off his shirt.

'Oh no!' said Jake. 'I'm sorry, man. Getting rejected sucks.'

'I just… really like her, you know?' said Charles.

'I know. Maybe she just needs to get to know you a bit better?'

Charles considered it. 'Maybe.'

Jake brightened suddenly, like he had an idea. 'Wanna go get slurpees?'

Despite everything, Charles smiled. 'Absolutely.'


	7. Amy and Teddy

Having a roommate was exactly as awesome as Charles had always expected – it was like having an automatic best friend. He and Jake ate breakfast together, they exchanged high-fives when they saw each other between classes, they talked about all kinds of things.

One evening, they watched Jake's favourite movie, Die Hard, together.

'Do you want some snacks?' Charles said, 'I have chips.'

'What _flavour_ are these?' Jake made a face.

'Oxtail soup! They're from Eastern Europe.'

'They taste like balls,' said Jake.

So maybe he didn't share Charles' sophisticated palette – in fact, he mostly seemed to live off pizza and artificially coloured sodas – but he was fun. And he was the coolest person Charles had ever been friends with, possibly the coolest person he'd ever met.

Except Rosa, obviously. _Rosa._ Every time he thought about her, Charles' heart felt like it was trying to dance inside his chest. And he thought about her a lot – about her curly hair, about the way she always wore black jeans and leather jackets, about how she always sat cross-legged or with one of her feet up on something, even at lunch.

'Why don't you just ask her out?' said Jake. He'd just found the sheet of paper that Charles had filled with doodles of the name 'Charles Diaz'.

'I'm going to,' he said, 'I'm just trying to decide where I should take her.'

'What are you thinking?' Jake sat down on his bed.

'Well, I thought I might take her to a concert, she probably likes-'

'You can afford to go to a concert?' Jake said, raising his eyebrows.

'Well, not really,' Charles admitted.

'Why don't you just take her for a drink or something?'

Charles considered it. He had wanted to do something _special_ for Rosa, to show her how much he liked her, how much he was willing to do for her.

'I want to do something… _bigger_ than just a drink,' he said.

'Does a first date need something that big?' said Jake. 'The last time I took a girl on a date, we went to 7-Eleven for slurpees and split the cheque.'

'They have cheques at 7-Eleven?'

'No, but that's not the point,' Jake said, 'the point is, we didn't do anything huge.'

'And how did that relationship turn out?' said Charles.

'Well,' Jake thought about it. 'Not great. She stood me up for our second date because she was hooking up with another guy – but that's not the point either! My point was, Rosa might be put off if you suggest something that big.'

'You might have a point,' Charles conceded. 'Back in high school, girls always said I went too big too soon. My friends called it "going Full Boyle".'

'Exactly!' Jake grinned. 'So try being more chill with Rosa. Ooh, maybe you could take her for a slurpee!'

'I think I'll pass on that one, Jakey.'

But Charles did think about what Jake had said, and decided to try it. Being chill, that is, not 7-Eleven.

He saw Rosa most days at lunch or dinner; their fledgling group of friends ate most meals together in various combinations. But he didn't get a chance to talk to her alone until Saturday, almost a week after he had first met her.

They were at Shaw's bar again, the whole group standing around the pool table and trying to play as teams. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but the rest of his team was berating Charles every time he failed to pot a ball, and Gina was keeping up an overly sarcastic running commentary.

'Will Terence's incredible biceps imbue him with incredible pool skills?' she was saying as Terry took the cue and had his turn. 'Apparently not. Shame on you, Terrence.'

'He's not even on our team!' said Jake.

Charles watched Rosa as she stood on the opposite side of the table taking a swig of her beer. He was going to talk to her, he was going to do it. As Jake took his turn, Rosa went up to the bar for another drink. Charles followed her.

Rosa was leaning against the bar, tapping her debit card against it as she waited for the bartender.

'So,' said Charles, folding his arms and leaning sideways on the bar in an attempt to appear casual. He was pretty sure it didn't look at all casual, and was making him seem even shorten than usual, so he stood up straight. 'Would you like to go for a drink with me?' he blurted. He tried not to let his hope spill out of him and make things messy, but it was probably showing on his face.

Rosa turned to look at him, her face set. 'No.'

Oh. Just like that. _No._ Ouch.

'Sorry.' Charles didn't know why he was apologising – it just seemed like the right thing to do.

'It's fine.' Rosa paused, and then said, 'I'm just not romantically or sexually interested in you.'

'Okay,' said Charles, 'Yes, of course. Obviously.'

God, he was stupid. Of course she wasn't interested in him.

Charles turned and started walking, without a plan for where he was going. He ended up at the door, and decided that he might as well go home. He didn't want to be around the rest of them right now, anyway.

.x.

Charles was lying on his bed eating Eastern European potato chips when Jake got back.

'Hey buddy,' said Jake. 'Where did you go?'

'Rosa said no.' Charles sat up and sighed, brushing chip crumbs off his shirt.

'Oh no!' said Jake. 'I'm sorry, man. Getting rejected sucks.'

'I just… really like her, you know?' said Charles.

'I know. Maybe she just needs to get to know you a bit better?'

Charles considered it. 'Maybe.'

Jake brightened suddenly, like he had an idea. 'Wanna go get slurpees?'

Despite everything, Charles smiled. 'Absolutely.'

* * *

Thanks to everyone who has followed/faved/reviewed!


	8. Lovers, Together, in Beds

**Just FYI, there is some mild sexual content in this chapter!**

* * *

Since their first whisky-fuelled kiss, Gina had been spending as much time with Rosa as she could. Of course, they saw each other most days when they ate lunch with the rest of the group, and there were the weekly trips to Shaw's and the occasional film night, but she and Rosa had been going to each other's rooms whenever they could be sure they would be alone. Amy, being a massive nerd, spent quite a lot of time studying in her and Rosa's room, but thankfully Gina's roommate was out most nights. She passed through a lot, coming to get changed or collect her books, but she barely spent any time there. It suited Gina perfectly.

Usually she and Rosa talked for a while, sometimes they would drink, occasionally they would watch a movie. Mostly they made out.

Tonight, Gina was supposed to be watching movies with Jake and Charles, but she had said no and had made up a dance society meeting when Jake asked what she was doing. Her roommate was wherever it was she went in the evenings, and probably wouldn't be back until late.

When Rosa knocked on the door, Gina jumped up to open it. She'd already turned off her phone and set up music on her laptop – she had prepared everything like a little nerd.

'Hey,' said Rosa. She used her foot to push the door shut behind her, and then Gina took hold of the lapels of Rosa's leather jacket and stood on tiptoes to kiss her. And Rosa pushed her backwards onto the bed, straddling her laps, her thighs pressed close against Gina's.

And Gina pulled her down, pulled them both all the way onto the bed, toyed with the edges of Rosa's jacket until Rosa let her take it off. She wanted to peel back the layers between them, wanted Rosa all to herself without these stupid clothes getting in the way.

Rosa kissed her way down Gina's neck, her unruly curls in Gina's face, and she tugged at the hem of Gina's t-shirt, sliding it up and kissing Gina's exposed stomach. And then she sat up, pulled her own top off, pulled Gina's off as well, and when they kissed again Gina felt Rosa's skin against her own.

And then Rosa said, 'Can I take your jeans off?'

And yes, she could take them off. And Gina wrapped her bare legs around Rosa's waist and pulled her down on to her, and this was good: Rosa on top of her, Rosa's jean's digging into her thighs, Rosa's impatient mouth on hers.

Everything was ragged breaths and needy hands, scorching skin on scorching skin. Gina closed her eyes, felt Rosa pushing down her bra and following it with her mouth, panted out a breathless 'oh, _dang_ ,' because that felt so fucking good.

And Rosa's hands felt even better; she knew exactly what she was doing with them. And Gina pushed her just far enough away so that she could undo Rosa's belt buckle, and they were a tangle of limbs and kisses and hands fisted into hair.

Rosa was sitting up, Gina in her lap, and Gina buried her head in the crook of Rosa's neck and listened to the sounds she made when Gina slipped a hand between them.

'Didn't I tell you I was a sensuous woman?' she said.

Rosa let out a panting laugh. 'Stop killing the mood.'

'I'm just being myself. You love it.'

And all Rosa said in reply was, 'oh, _fuck_ , Gina.'

Afterwards, they lay side by side, Rosa's arm underneath Gina's head. Almost cuddling.

'We should do that again,' said Rosa.

'Tomorrow?' Fuck not being a desperate bitch.

'Can't,' Rosa said. 'I'm seeing this guy tomorrow.' She paused. 'That's cool, right?'

'Yeah, it's cool.' But Gina felt a slight twinge in her stomach at the thought of Rosa seeing some guy. Not a twinge of jealousy so much as a twinge of _why didn't I know about this?_

Gina had never been under the impression that she and Rosa were exclusive, but Rosa hadn't explicitly mentioned anyone else before. And Gina felt weird, knowing about the others. Her stomach twinged with a feeling of _I want to be the most important._

She sat up, grabbed her bra from where it had ended up on the floor, started putting it on. Rosa sat up too, her lips a tight line.

'You should probably go before my roommate comes back,' Gina said, lightly.

Rosa started picking up her clothes and quickly pulling them on. Gina put on her underwear and t-shirt, then got up and went over to her desk to turn the music off.

'See you,' said Rosa, and bent to kiss Gina quickly.

'Bye,' said Gina.

She didn't see Rosa the next day; she ate lunch with Jake and Charles. As far as she knew, Charles was still stupidly infatuated with Rosa (or not so stupidly – Gina could see where he was coming from) but Gina made sure to steer the conversation away from her as much as she could.

It wasn't weird that she wanted to be the most important to Rosa, was it? Gina wanted to be the most important to everyone, the most important in general. This wasn't any different.

Jake kept on texting Gina, asking about her and Rosa. He was annoyingly observant.

 **Jake** : I can see you making flirty eyes at Rosa

Gina denied it, of course. But other times, it seemed like they were making it way too easy for him to spot.

 **Jake:** Where you at?

 **Jake:** Rosa's not here either

 **Jake** : Coincidence?

And then a load of smirk emojis. Gina tried to shake him off – Rosa didn't like sharing information about her personal life, and that definitely included the information that they were hooking up. And Gina wasn't about to tell Jake or any of the others if that wasn't what Rosa wanted.

But it seemed like Jake was onto them – and he already knew that Gina liked girls. She had come out to her friends when she was a freshman in high school, and her mum not long after that. She had never really needed to hide her sexual orientation – if anyone wanted to be a dick about it, that was their problem. So Gina had talked to Jake about it. She'd never officially Come Out to him, it was more of a series of casual comments. _So, I met this girl…_

And Gina had known that Jake would be fine with it, but she hadn't expected him to be quite so _passionately_ accepting of her bisexuality. She had expected him to be more ambivalent, like her other friends. But Jake seemed delighted, and was desperate to tell her that he was proud of her, and to ask all kinds of questions about queer stuff, even when it came to things that definitely weren't her area of expertise.

Jake was a very enthusiastic ally. So enthusiastic that Gina had started wondering if maybe Jake was queer as well.

She'd been waiting for him to say or do something to prove her right (So, I met this guy…), but it had been four years, and he hadn't said anything. Gina stuck by her suspicions, though, because Gina knew what was up even when other people didn't.

She saw Rosa again the day after that, and it was like nothing weird had happened between them. They drank illegal whiskey and watched the beginning of an old movie, and had to turn it off halfway through because they were too distracted by each other. And, when Rosa mentioned going out with other people, Gina decided not to let it get to her.

Over the next couple of weeks, she did a pretty good job. She made herself focus on Rosa, and on the other things going on in her life. Classes, friends, finding an amazing outfit for the Halloween party. It was approaching quickly, and Gina was determined to be the best-dressed person there.


	9. The Halloween Party, Part 1

It was the Saturday night before Halloween – the day of Terry's party. The first party of college! Jake couldn't believe it had taken this long to get to.

He and Charles went over together. Charles was wearing a short-sleeved white shirt and a black tie – when Jake had asked him what he was dressed as, Charles had talked for an hour about a musical that Jake knew nothing about. For his part, Jake was dressed as John McClane from _Die Hard_ , but he had thrown on his leather jacket over the vest, partly because it was cold and partly because he felt underdressed with his entire arms exposed.

They arrived at the door to Terry's apartment, and Jake could hear music coming from inside even before Terry opened the door to them.

'Hey guys!' said Terry. 'Nice costume, Jake! And Charles, are you an… office worker?'

Charles started talking about musicals again, as they stepped inside the apartment.

When Jake had been here before, they had hung out in the combined living room/kitchen, but now all the doors were propped open for people to spill out into corridor and the four bedrooms. That had definitely been a good move – it was already crowded, there was no way all of these people could have fit in the living room.

'Help yourselves to drinks!' said Terry, before someone else ambushed him with conversation.

'Rosa's here,' said Charles, craning to see through the crowded room. 'Do you think I should talk to her? I think I'm going to talk to her.'

Jake thought that was probably a bad idea, but Charles was already gone. Jake's phone buzzed with a text.

 **Amy:** Are you at the party yet?

 **Amy** : Teddy and I are on our way.

 _Teddy and I_. The way Amy texted with perfect grammar made Jake smile; it was almost enough to distract him from the twisting he felt in his stomach ever time he remembered that Amy was bringing Teddy to the party. Her _date_.

Amy had been out with Teddy a few times over the last few weeks, but Jake was yet to meet him. Which was fine, as far as he was concerned. He didn't want to see this guy's stupid face, hear him talking about art history, see him and Amy holding hands or whatever else it was they got up to.

Jake decided to distract himself with a drink, and was in the process of grabbing a beer when he noticed a bottle of orange soda on the counter, next to a selection of spirits. He could have orange soda _with alcohol in it._ And that was extra great because, if he was being honest, he didn't like beer all that much.

It turned out that orange-soda-and-vodka was like normal orange soda, but worse. But Jake liked the way it spread warmth across his body, so he kept drinking it.

'Getting your dink on?' Jake looked up to see Gina, wearing a silver bodysuit and black jeans under a huge, fluffy grey jacket. And wolf ears.

'Yep.'

Gina poured herself a drink. 'See ya!' she said, and then disappeared out of the kitchen.

.x.

'Hi, Jake.' It took him a moment to realise that it was Amy talking to him – usually she greeted him less timidly. And usually she called him _Peralta._

'Hey,' he said.

Amy was wearing a black dress and was holding a sparkly witch's hat, which she kept nervously turning over in her hands. 'Jake, this is Teddy.'

'Hi.' Teddy stepped forward with a white-toothed smile and a firm handshake. 'Nice to finally meet you, Jake.'

He looked like a guy out of a commercial. Or – worse – an _infomercial_. What did Amy see in this guy?

Trying to stop himself saying something rude, for Amy's sake, he settled for, 'What's your costume?'

'Vampire,' said Teddy, gesturing at his shirt and blazer, 'I have some fake fangs, but I'd rather not put them on.'

Well, of course. Teddy was far too smug to cover up his gleaming, cosmetically-whitened teeth.

'Who wants a drink?' said Amy. 'Teddy? I'm going to get a drink.'

.x.

Amy didn't like Halloween. Trick-or-treating as a kid hadn't been so bad, but she hated the sexy costumes and too much alcohol of grown up Halloween parties. She had worn the simplest costume she thought she could get away with: a dress that she wore all the time, and a cheap witch's hat.

She had been relieved that Teddy didn't want to go all-in on a costume either, and had actually been quite excited at the idea of a date with him that involved something other than discussing school-related subjects over dinner. Their dates were nice, but maybe something different would be good.

So far, she had been wrong. She and Teddy had only been at the party for ten minutes, but already Teddy and Jake were acting snippy with each other, and Amy was halfway through her first drink in the hopes that alcohol would make the whole situation less uncomfortable. Beside her, Teddy was drinking beer while Jake tried to explain _Die Hard_ to him.

'Amy Santiago,' said a deep, smooth voice. Amy looked up to see Terry's roommate, Raymond, and a red-haired guy she hadn't met before. 'My fellow art history student.'

'Hi.' Amy tried to restrain herself from beaming; she hadn't expected Raymond to remember her. 'How are you?'

'I am well,' he said, impassive as ever. 'But I forget myself. Amy, this is… Kevin.'

'I'm Raymond's boyfriend.' Kevin held out his hand, and Amy shook it delightedly. Kevin was wearing a tweed jacket, his only concession to Halloween a pair of sparkly devil horns that looked out of place on his head. Raymond was wearing a suit and no fancy dress at all, and Amy appreciated both of them for it.

Happy to have two intellectual upperclassmen talking to her, Amy cast around for something to keep their attention. This was Raymond's apartment – how hard could it be?

'Are those your cookbooks?' she tried. 'I have that cookbook. What did you think of the, uh, linguine recipe?'

'Those are not mine,' said Raymond. 'I have no interest in cooking.'

'Oh,' said Amy. 'No, great. Me too.'

'Hey, Amy.' Teddy appeared at her shoulder with two bottles of beer. 'Want a pilsner?'

'I'm not much of a beer fan,' she said, flicking her eyes to Raymond and Kevin to check that they were still there.

'Seriously?' said Teddy. 'But pilsners are like, the only thing worth drinking! Me and my dad actually brew it – I can't believe we've never talked about it.'

'I would love to hear about that sometime,' Amy said with as much sincerity as she could muster. 'But I'm really not a beer drinker.'

'Okay,' said Teddy. 'I'll see if Jake wants this!'

'Would you prefer some wine?' said Kevin.

Not only had he and Raymond not disappeared, they apparently wanted to spend more time with her. Amy was flattered. 'I'd love some.'


End file.
